NKY Q&A

Rebekah Gensler is president of The Devou Good Project, a Covington nonprofit organization that partners with other local nonprofits to help bring their projects and ideas to fruition. The two major projects that Devou Good Project is working on this year are the DevouGrass music festival on Oct. 1 at Devou Park that benefits the Children’s Home of Northern Kentucky and the June 16 grand opening of the NaturePlay@BCM playground at the Behringer-Crawford Museum.

Q What can you tell me about the NaturePlay@BCM playground?

A It’s a natural playspace for kids in the backyard of the Behringer Crawford Museum, which is also in Devou Park. It is about an acre big and it is fully accessible playscape based on the history and culture of our greater Cincinnati area. It is an amazing place.

Q You mentioned that it was important that it be fully accessible to all kids.

A Very, very important. I have been adamant that every feature is something where kids can play together. Oftentimes when you go to a playground the kids can, if they’re in a wheelchair or they have other mobility impairments, they can only get so far. But then oftentimes the fun stuff they can’t always do. And what we wanted to make sure was that the fun stuff was stuff that all kids could participate in at a level that they’re comfortable with in nature.

Q Where did the idea of the Nature Playscape come from?

A We’re outside people. I have four kids and we spend every second we can outside. We see how it benefits our kids. The research is out there how much it benefits all kids. So this is something my family strongly believes in and our friends strongly believe in that being able to take any child, regardless of their background, and expose them to nature benefits our community.

Q And you mentioned that you had this idea to someone at the museum, is that right?

A Yes, I opened my big mouth one day and I was talking to a neighbor of mine at an event at the museum and I said, “You know what would be really cool if we built a nature playspace in the backyard of the museum.” And he goes, “Well, let me bring it to a meeting.” And so I found myself talking to the people at the museum and then we just went for it.

Q What do you hope children learn at the Nature Playscape?

A The museum’s goals are to basically teach the education and the history of Northern Kentucky and Greater Cincinnati and so there are things there for kids to discover our past with cabins and boats and fossils. For me the goal would be for kids to basically get a better understanding of who they are and what they can become. And I always think we learn that by learning where we’ve been.